Come Back To Me
by Enchantable
Summary: Collab with Frotu. Post-rescue Orihime deals with life, one breath at a time


**This is a collab with Frotu!**

**She did a wonderful music video: http://www. youtube. com / watch?v= dgXCxTU59JM**

**^remember to remove the spaces from the web address.**

**And I turned it into a story.**

**Italics are flashbacks.**

**Go watch and read (and review) please!**

* * *

The gateway closed behind her.

Standing there, surrounded by friends, Orihime Inoue watched the darkness fade, taken by the impossibly bright blue sky. She was quite sure she had never felt so alone in her entire life. Around her people cheered, though she was sure to the rest of the world they looked quite mad. They did not care. They had just saved the world and defeated a great evil. Perhaps in the struggle they had all gone a little mad. After all, heroes made sacrifices, heroes were strong enough to give themselves away to ensure the rest of the world got their happy ending. Orihime felt her stomach tighten as she stared at the sky, knowing that there was no way to see the gaping hole where that swirling darkness had been.

There was no evidence of what had happened there.

Behind her she knew Ichigo, Rukia--all of them were cheering and laughing, happy tears painting their faces. Even the injured had celebrated with them, not caring about such trivial things in light of the immense victory. But each smile had seemed hollow to Orihime, like someone had taken her far far away from the place. She felt vacant but happiness--and, she suspected alcohol--blinded them to the hollowness of the gesture. Eventually though it hurt to smile so her smiles became smaller and smaller until there was nothing but the line of her lips on her face. She was glad that they did not notice or that they made excuses for her behavior. They could think what they wanted, it was not as though it mattered anymore.

"Orihime!"

Orihime looked away, her face turning towards the sound. Immediately she whipped her head back, searching desperately for something to distinguish the sky but all she saw was endless, happy blue stretching off into eternity.

She hated it.

The sky continued to mock her with its happiness. Winter to spring to summer--the seasons all seemed to be tainted with the joy she saw but never felt. Worry was beginning to fester in her friends but between all the schoolwork and mending their other friendships, it was no wonder that it was hard to find the time to analyze why Orihime's smiles were not as wide or her eyes as vacant as they had been. If they asked she acted oblivious. She imagined they chalked it up to her growing up, something they all had to do long before her. There was no-one to shelter her, not anymore and for the first time she had to stand alone.

Summer saw the trees turn to a bright and vibrant emerald. It was odd how in that world of stark black and white, the splashes of color she had found seemed to be even more beautiful, seemed to stick out more to her. Unfortunately the most present, obvious splash of color had been the bright, vibrant emerald of Ulquiorra Schiffer's eyes. Maybe if his hair hadn't been so black or his skin so white she could have ignored it but the color was so _vibrant_ that even if his eyes never showed any emotion past the barest frustration or boredom, they were by far the most striking feature on the striking man.

And now the color was following her.

Trees were heavy with it, women seemed to have deemed it the most fashionable color--wherever she turned she was surrounded by a thousand shades of emerald. None of them were ever quite right though, as if the specific color had been withdrawn from the pallet.

_"Do you need to eat?"_

_Emerald met violet grey as Orihime looked at her captor. She knew Ichigo, Sado, Rukia--even she got extra hungry because of their Spiritual Pressure. Shinji ate like a garbage disposal and she didn't dare think of where Hachi got his dinner. The barest flickers of frustration shone in his eyes as he turned to face her fully, hands tucked loosely into his pockets. She swallowed thickly, her fingers tightening on the chopsticks in her hand as she looked at him, wondering if he was going to kill her. Finally he shook his head, the ebony strands not encased by his helmet moving with the gesture._

_"No," he said, his voice cool and unwavering, "the heightened Spiritual Particles in Hueco Mundo sustain us."_

_"Oh," she looked at the food on her plate. _

_She knew he was frustrated with her refusal to eat and even if she did not want to obey she was hungry. It was just that the food was disgusting. Heathy and bland and disgusting. Miserably she picked at the vegetables._

_"You are not required to enjoy the food, only to eat it," he said. _

_"I know," she said with a sigh picking at the food._

_"Why do you choose the difficult path?" he asked, his footsteps coming closer. He did not elaborate on the consequences of the path, in many ways making it worse. Orihime felt herself recoil as he stood nearby, expecting him to be icy cold. But he came close enough so she could feel that was not the case. He was _warm_, she could feel the heat from his body, "eat."_

_'I'm not--" her stomach rumbled, "i don't want it."_

_"Whether you want it or not is of little consequence," he said, "I will return in an hour and you--"_

_"I'll eat it or you'll force me too," she muttered, her eyes on the food and missing the surprise in his eyes. _

_Food consumed she returned to the couch and stared out at the white wall. It was odd really but she could almost imagine images on the smooth surface. She was sure that if she stared long enough she would go truly mad. Maybe it would be better to be unaware of what was going on? Resting her chin on her hand she looked at the wall, waiting for her mind to go away. The door opened behind her but she did not care. Out of the corner of her eye she saw white and knew Ulquiorra was there. She saw his body shift as he looked the way she was looking before turning to her, though he did not ask what she was doing._

_"When I was little my brother used to take me to the movies on saturday afternoon," she said, her voice breaking the silence, "we used to sit side by side," she felt her throat ache, "he would let me hold the popcorn."_

_She saw his fingers move in the pocket of his hakama as he moved next to her before he turned and sat next to her. Her eyes widened as she felt the couch dip. She turned to see him sitting there looking ahead. Her eyes widened in surprise as she looked at his features._

_"I hate the food," she blurted out, "nothing has any taste!"_

_"That is of no consequence," he said, "nutrition is important, taste is not."_

_"Easy for you to say," she muttered under her breath, "you don't need to eat."_

_She could have sworn she saw his lips twitch._

"Orihime!"

Gasping Orihime turned her head to see Tatsuki standing there.

"Come on!" she said tugging her, "you have to see this!"

Orihime looked at her wrist. A bit higher than Tatsuki's hand was the bracelet Ulquiorra had given her that night he took her away. Tearing her eyes from the silver object she looked at her friend.

"Okay," she said following her away.

The bracelet she had found tucked in her cloths. How it had survived all that transpired she did not know. He had given her the bracelet but he had never really taken it back. She had shoved it into the small pocket of her dress and ignored the thing entirely, not wanting any sign of that fateful night. She had chosen to go with him, she had chosen to be strong. But it was a horrible choice to make. Each ounce of strength, each moment she did not fall completely into despair, it was a small triumph. But the weakness she felt, it was still there. like a black void that threatened to pull her under, like she had a chain about her ankles that would drag her down.

It seemed that the bracelet was a one time use thing. She had found it and slipped it onto her wrist absentmindedly but she had remained quite whole and visible to everyone around her. So the bracelet had remained. Long after her bruises had faded and the hair she lost had grown back. After the nightmares became dreams and the ache in her heart lessened a bit. She had learned to smile once more and the bracelet had remained, the silent question echoing in her mind. How many more would she loose? How many times would she have to learn to smile once more?

Laughter echoed behind her, Rukia's loud one and Ichigo's comforting one. Orihime felt something inside her cringe. She had learned to smile but she did not feel like doing it at the moment. Her hand slipped to the handle of her umbrella. Standing up she opened the umbrella and stepped out into the rain. The streets seemed to be deserted, people having sought shelter inside when the rain started. Her feet seemed to echo as the puddles splashed, her toes hitting the concrete under the rain.

Echoing.

_"Where are we going, Ulquiorra?" she asked._

_She saw his fingers press into his leg. She had taken to calling his name more and more. If he was simply going to refer to her by 'woman' then she was going to passively-agreesively remind him that if _he_ had a name than so did she. _

_Needless to say, it was not working. _

_Still she was determined to try. Those faint sparks she saw, those moments when he was something more than the emotionless man she had assumed, they interested her. She did not see them often, sometimes she was sure she had imagined them entirely, but then one would happen and she would be stunned. Like sometimes the food was slightly less bland than usual or once she fell asleep on the couch and woke up covered with a blanket she knew had not been there before. They were not extraordinary acts of kindness, each was perfectly within the parameters of his orders to take care of her but they were a kindness none the less, something that seemed to be lacking in Las Noches._

_Orihime had never been that far out of her room before. She knew they were well past the coldness of Aizen's throne room or the infirmary where she was sometimes forced to help heal. The corridor in front of them seemed to be the only one in all of the Palace. Their footfalls echoed through the deserted space. They stopped in front of what appeared to be a dead end. Orihime looked at Ulquiorra, wondering if he was playing some kind of joke on her. His eyes were on the wall as he slipped his hand out of his pockets and moved his fingers. The wall slid seamlessly away, as if on an invisible sort of track. Orihime tore her eyes away from him and followed his gaze. _

_A delighted gasp spilled from her lips as she looked at the sky. The white of the stone was impossibly smooth against the endless sand. It too, shone white in the moon. Thousands of stars seemed to dance in the velvety night sky. Even the odd crystal trees seemed beautiful from up so high. Orihime gasped and stepped forward, delighted at the sight. _

_"Its so pretty Ulquiorra!" she cried, turning her head to face him._

_She knew her hair had moved back, it really had gotten long. She felt it settle against her back, all but a single lock. Orhime opened her eyes to see her hair twined about the marble of Ulquiorra's fingers. He made a sound, a sigh or maybe a sound of confirmation as to the truth of her words. _

_But his eyes were not on the view._

_They were on her._

Orihime felt her hair sway in the breeze. Her feet moved unconsciously faster, her heart beating. She knew what came next, what would come next to her mind. If she just went a bit faster, if she just reached a bit farther then..

then...

Then she could catch him. This time it could be different. This time she could grab him and keep him together, keep him from shattering. It was all her fault, her fault that they had come, her fault that Ichigo had turned into that _thing_ and killed Ulquiorra. She did not think she would feel sadness for the man who had imprisoned her. In fact, there were times during the fight when she had wished for his death, when she thought he deserved much worse. But not then, not when he had been dying. Somehow he had changed from her captor to her guardian, from the cold man to a man who she _knew_ felt far more than he would ever let on. She wanted to know more. She wanted to find out more about him, just as he had been interested in them.

But he had blown away.

it might have been ash but when she watched it, Orihime thought of dandelions. She used to pick the puffy white flowers and make wishes, blowing the seeds in hopes they would come true. As Ulquiorra dissolved and drifted away the only thing Orihime found herself wishing was that he would stay. That he would come back. But the words had stuck in her throat and by the time she found herself able to speak it was far too late. How many nights did she wake up crying out his name, her fingertips extended, hands grasping at ghosts and shadows and shattered dreams?

Orihime felt tears on her cheeks. Reaching up she swiped them away angrily. She didn't cry often anymore and she didn't want to cry over this. He had always hated it when she cried. Opening her eyes Orihime looked ahead, almost embarrassed to find that she was not alone.

There was another person there.

Her eyes widened. Dressed in a bright emerald shirt, dark pants and a jacket, the man had pale skin. Not unusual but that and the ebony of his hair made her heart lurch. His hands were tucked loosely into his pockets, contradicting the ramrod strait of his posture. She couldn't make out his eyes, not yet. Wild hope threatened to floor her. A step closer and suddenly it became clear. Each color she thought was similar, they were not. Not when she saw the brilliance--the _familiar _brilliance of his eyes. This time it felt as though heart really had stopped in her chest.

It was him.

Slowly his hand moved out of his pocket, turning towards her. Instead of his fingertips grasping at hers he held his palm face up to her, a silent invitation. Orihime the tears she was barely holding back increase. Though the world had become blurry she could not help the smile on her lips. It felt like it was the first time she had really smiled in _months_. Tears leaked down her cheeks but she continued to grin. Suddenly she could move again. Her umbrella lay on the ground forgotten as she raced forward as fast as she could.

"Ulquiorra!"

Touching his hand was not enough. She flew past that and slammed full force into his chest. His arms came up around her waist as she wrapped her arms around him, her tears mingling with the rain that fell all around them. He was warmer than she remembered, softer too though she imagined that was because of his gigai. She didn't care. He could be marble hard and have a tail and she still would have thrown herself into his arms.

"Y-you came back," she sobbed softly into the fabric of his jacket.

"Yes, woman," he murmured into her hair, "I'm back."

Orihime continued to cry, unable to stop smiling as Ulquiorra held her tightly while the rain fell all around them.


End file.
